Local quartet on final training roster for U.S. men’s water polo

The United States men’s national water polo team has trimmed its training roster for the upcoming London Olympics to 14 players, Coach Terry Schroeder announced Tuesday at a press conference at the LA84 Foundation in Los Angeles.

Former UC Irvine standouts Ryan Bailey, Jeff Powers and Tim Hutten are among the players on the training roster, as is former Corona del Mar High and UC Berkeley star John Mann.

Only 13 players will compete for Team USA at the Olympics. The final roster originally was set to be released Tuesday, but due to recent injuries that announcement has been pushed back to an unspecified date later this month.

Bailey, a center, is training to play in his fourth Olympics, along with team captain Tony Azevedo. They would be the first male water polo players in United States history to accomplish that feat.

Powers, a defender, is a two-time Olympian. Hutten, also a defender, was also on the 2008 squad that took silver in Beijing.

Mann, a center, is aiming for his first Olympic Games. Assistant coach Robert Lynn, the Newport Harbor High boys’ head coach, said last month that Mann has been battling JW Krumpholz for the backup center position on the team. However, Krumpholz was sidelined for a couple of weeks after suffering a concussion last month in the FINA World League preliminaries.

“He was out of the water and wasn’t able to play,” Schroeder said Tuesday in a press release. “So that puts us in a spot where we need a little bit more time to evaluate ... Based on the respect for the process of naming the Olympic team we’ve decided to come here with 14 players.”

Bailey, Powers and Hutten are among 11 returners from the 2008 team that finished second to Hungary, which is the three-time defending Olympic champion.

— From staff reports